


Already Know the Answer

by Robin Hood (kjack89)



Series: Season 19 Episode Tags [3]
Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon, Episode Tag, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Post-S19E04
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-20
Updated: 2017-10-20
Packaged: 2019-01-20 06:42:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,149
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12427107
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kjack89/pseuds/Robin%20Hood
Summary: “I read something interesting in the case file today,” Barba said, deliberately casual as he carried both glasses of wine over to the couch and handed one to Carisi, who accepted it gratefully. “Something you said.”Carisi groaned before taking a quick sip of wine. “If I said something stupid—” he started, but Barba shook his head and laughed as he settled down next to Carisi on the couch.“For once, no, you didn’t say anything stupid.” He paused before adding, “Well, nottoostupid anyway.” Carisi elbowed him sharply and Barba smirked before finally getting to the point. “You told the perp that you don’t ask questions that you don’t already know the answers to.”





	Already Know the Answer

**Author's Note:**

> I told myself I wasn't going to write more episode tags, but then I wanted to write some self-indulgent fluff and alas.
> 
> Inspired by Carisi's statement (twice) in S19E04 that he doesn't ask questions he doesn't already know the answers to. And very obviously not inspired by the complete lack of Barisi in said episode.
> 
> Usual disclaimer. Please be kind and tip your fanfic writers in the form of comments and/or kudos!

Barba was surprised when he let himself into his apartment only to find it dark and empty. “Sonny?” he called, rather unnecessarily, setting his briefcase down on the ground and divesting himself of his coat.

As if on cue, his phone buzzed, and he pulled it out to read the text from Carisi: _Running late. Long day. Pick a wine that goes with Thai and let it breathe since you seem to think you can taste a difference_.

Barba snorted and texted back: _The fact that I have done nothing to culture you is clearly a failure on my part_ , before going to put a bottle of Riesling to chill and heading into their bedroom to change.

By the time he reemerged, dressed in what he considered casual clothes, khakis and a sweater, and what Carisi referred to as his ‘stupidly hot professor’ get-up, the wine was suitably chilled and he has just pulled it out to open it when he heard Carisi’s key in the lock. “Honey, I’m home,” Carisi announced, sounding tired, and Barba rolled his eyes even as he went over to kiss him in greeting.

“You don’t have to aerate white wines,” he informed him without any preamble as he took the bag of takeout and set it on the kitchen counter, letting Carisi toe his shoes off and shrug out of his coat.

“You assume that I knew white wine goes with Thai food,” Carisi said, a little grumpily, as he stretched before unclipping his badge and gun. “I’m surprised you’re not buried in legal documents because of this case.”

Barba rolled his eyes. “You practically got me as good a confession as I could hope for,” he said, returning to the kitchen to uncork the wine and pour them both glasses. “Don’t make me thank you for it.”

Carisi waved a dismissive hand before collapsing face-first on the couch. “Just doin’ my job,” he said, his voice muffled by the throw pillow he had buried his face in. “Did I ever tell you how much paperwork there is for a case involving minors? And Fin’s not even here to lend a hand.”

Barba made a sympathetic noise, bringing the takeout bag over to the coffee table before returning to the kitchen for the wine. “Do you just want to go to bed?”

Carisi sat up and frowned at him. “Don’t be ridiculous,” he scoffed, pulling containers out of the takeout bag. “Besides, you clearly have something on your mind or you wouldn’t have put your fucking professor outfit on.”

“And here I thought it was ‘fuckable professor’,” Barba said, mock-innocently, smirking at the way Carisi’s eyes darkened at the thought. “But unfortunately for me, I have to acknowledge that you’re correct. I do have something I want to talk about.”

Carisi’s eyes narrowed slightly. “Ok. So talk.”

“I read something interesting in the case file today,” Barba said, deliberately casual as he carried both glasses of wine over to the couch and handed one to Carisi, who accepted it gratefully. “Something you said.”

Carisi groaned before taking a quick sip of wine. “If I said something stupid—” he started, but Barba shook his head and laughed as he settled down next to Carisi on the couch.

“For once, no, you didn’t say anything stupid.” He paused before adding, “Well, not _too_ stupid anyway.” Carisi elbowed him sharply and Barba smirked before finally getting to the point. “You told the perp that you don’t ask questions that you don’t already know the answers to.”

Carisi blinked. Clearly, wherever he had thought Barba was going was not this. “Uh, yeah?” he said, pitching it like a question, clearly waiting for Barba to elaborate.

Barba shrugged. “Firstly, you and I both know that you ask questions you don’t know the answer to all the time. Just this morning you asked me if you should wear the blue tie or the black tie—”

“And you picked the blue one like I knew you were going to,” Carisi finished, a small smile on his face.

Barba frowned. “If you knew which one I was going to suggest, why bother asking me?”

It was Carisi’s turn to shrug. “You’re never happier than when you’re giving me advice. And I like making you happy.”

Though Barba couldn’t help but lean in and kiss Carisi at that, running a thumb down his jawline, his brow still furrowed slightly as he pulled away. “Ok, fine, so I’ll grant that one. But what about when you were shadowing me, back when you were in law school. You can’t possibly make me believe that you knew all the answers or you wouldn’t have been so eager to follow me around like a puppy.”

Carisi ignored the quip, as this was an old topic of conversation between them now. “In fairness, I didn’t ask a whole lotta questions back then,” he said instead with a small grin. “You were always one to volunteer answers before I ever needed to ask. Most of the questions that I did ask were clarifying questions, including and especially your four favorite words: ‘Am I right, Counselor?’.”

“Like a broken clock,” Barba murmured fondly, giving Carisi an appraising look and deciding to switch tacks. “Fine. So if we agree to accept your premise that you don’t ask questions that you don’t already know the answer to—”

“The Defense will stipulate,” Carisi said, his grin widening.

Barba ignored him. “If we agree to accept it, is that the reason why there’s an engagement ring that’s been sitting in the bottom drawer of your nightstand for the past six weeks?”

Carisi’s grin disappeared. “You, uh, you know about that?” he asked quietly, and something in his expression made Barba turn away to busy himself with the takeout, unable or unwilling to meet his eye.

“I didn’t go snooping, if that’s what you’re thinking,” he said, unnecessarily defensive when Carisi hadn’t even said a word in accusation. “I was looking for a pocket square that I let you borrow and I thought you might’ve accidentally put it with your pitiful collection, and when I was sorting through them I saw the box, and…”

He trailed off, his hands stilling, halfway through portioning out pad thai between two paper plates. “And naturally, you were curious,” Carisi finished, his tone completely unreadable. “I mean, I get it. I’m a detective, after all. I would’ve looked, too.”

Barba jerked a shrug, handing a plate to Carisi without meeting his eyes. “In our line of work—” he started, but Carisi snorted and shook his head, cutting him off.

“Please, Raf. Don’t give me that bullshit. You saw it, you were curious, you looked. As much as you may think basic human nature is beneath you, this has got nothing to do with our jobs.” Carisi sounded tired and Barba chanced a glance over at him. Carisi didn’t look as upset as Barba thought he would, so he took that as an encouraging sign. “So yeah. I bought an engagement ring. And I haven’t found the right time or the right way to ask you yet.”

“Because you weren’t sure my answer would be yes.”

Carisi shrugged and they ate in silence for a uncomfortably long moment, Barba dying to say something but knowing that Carisi was the one who needed to talk. “There were a lot of reasons,” Carisi said finally, after he had shoveled down most of his meal. “We had just gotten back together, just moved in together. I didn’t want to move too fast.”

Barba nodded slowly. “I can understand that,” he said. The silence that stretched between them was more comfortable as they both finished eating, and Barba set his plate down on the coffee table before turning to look at Carisi carefully. “And just in case one of those reasons is that you weren’t sure of my answer—”

“Raf,” Carisi started, trying to cut him off, but Barba shook his head and continued as if he hadn’t been interrupted.

"Whenever, wherever, however you want to ask," he said, his tone even and measured, and without any trace of snark, "my answer will be yes."

"Even if I were to ask right here and now?" Carisi asked, a small smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "Right here when you've spilled pad thai on your sweater and it's a Tuesday and there's no romance whatsoever?"

Barba considered it and shrugged. "You're the one who seems concerned about the perfect moment, so if this is what you want to remember and the story you want to tell your sisters, that's your decision." He favored Carisi with a smile of his own. "My decision was made a long time ago."

Carisi’s grin was blinding and he leaned in to kiss Barba deeply. “Nah,” he said, when they broke apart. “Now that I know you’re gonna say yes regardless, I’m gonna go all out.” His grin turned mischievous. “Ya know, flash mob, proposing to you in the middle of court—” His eyes lit up. “Oh, on the jumbotron at a Mets game.”

Barba glared at him. “You’re pushing it,” he warned.

“And you’re the one who said ‘whenever, wherever, however’,” Carisi said innocently.

Barba’s eyes narrowed. “There’s nothing I hate more than my own words being used against me.”

Carisi grinned and kissed him again. “I know,” he said before turning serious. “But you know I wouldn’t do that to you.”

“I know,” Barba said.

“Now, the jumbotron at a Yankees game, on the other hand…” Barba scowled and Carisi laughed. “I’ll take that as a no.”

Barba rolled his eyes. “I said whenever, wherever all of thirty seconds ago,” he reminded Carisi dryly. “If you think you’re going to goad me into going back on my word…”

Carisi laughed again. “Nah, I know you better than that.” He kissed Barba once more before adding, “And I think you know me better than that. It’ll be special, when it happens.”

“I know,” Barba repeated, because he did. Because he always had.

Carisi kissed him again before gathering their plates to take to the kitchen. “Oh, by the way,” he started, too casually to actually be casual, “I knew what your answer was gonna be.”

Barba frowned at him. “Even if I believed that, and that’s a big ‘if’, then why haven’t you asked me yet?”

“I wanted to make sure _you_ knew what your answer would be,” Carisi said simply. “Because I’ve been wanting to ask you for a long time, long enough to not want to ruin it by springing it on you when you weren’t ready to say yes, no matter how much you might want to.”

Barba’s eyes narrowed, recognizing that behind the sweetness of Carisi’s words was also a sense of triumph. Well, two could play at that game. “I’ve known what my answer would be for over a year.” Carisi stared at him and Barba smirked, chalking it up as a win. “Your nonna’s 88th birthday party. You made a joke about the guys in the old folks’ home, and how that was going to be us someday. And that’s when I knew that I wanted it to be us.”

Carisi shook his head slowly. “Even when we were broken up?”

“Especially when we were broken up,” Barba told him, honesty overtaking self-preservation and any attempt to score snarkiness points. “The only way I made it through you yelling at me at work — in a particularly professional fashion, I might add — was the thought that this is the man I’m going to marry someday.”

Carisi stared at him for a long moment before sighing heavily. “God _damn_ it. You win.”

Barba smirked at him. “I know,” he said, with just a hint of smugness, before standing and crossing to Carisi, and pulling him close to kiss him. “I’ve known what my answer was going to be for a long time. And I meant what I said: whenever, wherever, however. My answer won’t change.”

“I know,” Carisi said, with a slow grin that stretched across his face. “Now I just gotta figure out the when, where and how.”

“I have faith that you’ll figure something out,” Barba said dryly before adding, in a slightly warmer tone, “I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

Carisi hesitated before slowly getting down on one knee and Barba stared at him in something like horror. “Didn’t we just establish you weren’t going to do this tonight?”

“Do what?” Carisi asked innocently, picking up a napkin that had fallen to the floor. Barba glared at him and Carisi laughed. “Oh, I’m gonna have a lot of fun with this.”

“Don’t make me change my mind,” Barba warned as he stalked towards their bedroom.

“You won’t,” Carisi said easily as he followed him.

Barba sighed. “Like a broken clock,” he muttered before tugging Carisi onto the bed.


End file.
